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The United Nations has voted to [date / update] the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state. The [historic / history] vote took place on Thursday in a [packed / packing] session at the U.N. headquarters. More than two-thirds of the 193 member states were needed to [disprove / approve] the motion for Palestine to be recognized. It was passed 138-9 with 41 abstentions. Many European countries, Russia, China, India and Brazil voted [in / on] favour of recognizing the Palestinians. The USA, Canada and Israel were among those [voted / voting] against, while Germany, Britain, Australia and Colombia abstained. The vote [came / went] 65 years to the day that the U.N. adopted a resolution recommending the [party / partition] of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states. Israel [dismissed / dismisses] the vote as "negative political theatre" and announced the [building / builders] of 3,000 new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Celebrations broke [out / in] across the West Bank as news of the vote came [through / though] . The fact that the U.N. has implicitly recognized Palestine's sovereignty was [greeted / pleased] as a major diplomatic victory. [Veteran / Veterinary] Palestinian peace negotiator Hannan Ashrawi told reporters what the recognition meant for Palestine: "[Getting / Got] state status is what empowers the Palestinians, what defines our territory [was / as] occupied, what defines our relationships regionally and with the [last / rest] of the world," she said. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he hoped the U.N. vote would "[breath / breathe] new life into peace negotiations" with Israel. He said it was "the last chance to save the two-state solution". Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The resolution…won't change anything on the [floor / ground] . It won't advance the establishment of a Palestinian state, but rather, put it further [last / off] ."